Ban vaping and pave the way for a smoke-free generation
Thousands of families across Ireland and millions around the world will spend time today with loved ones they would have lost to the horror of heart attacks, stroke, cancer or other fatal diseases – but for a single act of political courage.
Twenty years ago today, when Micheál Martin was the health minister, Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace.
The effect on the nation’s health was seismic. The death rate fell by 13pc, strokes fell by 32pc and ischaemic heart disease by 26pc.
It is estimated that the smoking ban saved more than 3,700 lives in the first three-and-ahalf years alone. This dwarfs the global impact.
The success of the ban in Ireland meant the law has been replicated in more than 70 other countries.
Given the number of lives it has saved, it’s easy to forget the controversy it sparked and just how many people thought it was a nanny-state measure that couldn’t possibly work.
They said the ban could never be policed in pubs full of drinkers and that it would decimate our hospitality industry.
Big Tobacco knew a ban in Ireland would open the floodgates internationally and used all its financial might to resist the measure. They insisted smoking was a human right, and if anyone wanted to destroy their health, their lungs and their looks by smoking, it was up to them.
But the Irish government held its nerve with the strong backing of health organisations such as the Irish Heart Foundation and the trade unions, which pointed to the human right of their members working in pubs and restaurants not to have their health compromised by other people smoking.
Two decades later, Ireland is again at a crossroads in terms of tobacco control and a whole new threat from vaping.
Despite the impact of the workplace ban, tobacco is still responsible for 4,500 deaths a year here – the equivalent of an air disaster every month on Irish soil. Yet there is no public or media outcry, even though a recent HSE poll revealed that 83pc of adults in Ireland want tobacco sales to be phased out.
Meanwhile, we have a youth epidemic of e-cigarette use that is driving huge levels of nicotine addiction. And for the first time in a generation, smoking rates among teenagers are increasing, most likely due to a gateway effect from vaping.
Thanks to the workplace smoking ban, we have the blueprint to tackle the twin menaces of tobacco addiction and youth vaping: a strong evidence base, commitment by policymakers to act and support from a broad coalition of civil society organisations to beat back the inevitable onslaught led by those who profit most from tobacco and nicotine addiction.
We at the Irish Heart Foundation believe Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, backed by now Tánaiste Micheál Martin and the Government, have what it takes to achieve possibly an even bigger health dividend than from the workplace smoking ban.
Mr Donnelly has already carried out vital preliminary work through a public consultation on a range of measures such as increasing the legal age of sale of tobacco and major restrictions on the vape industry’s ability to target children and young people. His hand is also strengthened by the UK’s plan to phase out smoking.
The road ahead is now clear. Mr Donnelly should immediately raise the legal age of sale of tobacco from 18 to 21, a measure that is already in place in the US.
He should simultaneously undertake the groundwork for a smoke-free generation through legislation ensuring that children born after a certain year can never legally buy tobacco products.
Meanwhile, tough regulations should be introduced to protect young people from vaping, including a full ban on marketing of e-cigarettes, disposable vapes and all flavours except tobacco, along with the introduction of plain packaging.
We have all the ingredients to make this work: the political courage, the public support and the evidence base to defeat the vested interests and to finally make smoking, and indeed vaping, history in Ireland finally and permanently.